For me, Brother Tom's reading of Pope's "Essay on Criticism" made it so much easier to understand than just reading it on my own. It's not like I understood everything, but there was a significant difference. Maybe it helps to hear it aloud because you hear the natural vocal inflections on certain words. This helps emphasize certain points in the essay that you wouldn't necessarily catch when simply reading it. It also may be because reading it aloud and hearing it forces you to slow down and pay attention to each line. I naturally read rather quickly, and it helps to read aloud and hear it because it makes me make the conscious effort to slow down, which helps me comprehend more. Did this help anyone else?- NVa-c Mar 5, 2008
I share your opinion…whenever bro reads a piece of literature it makes so much more sense to me than when I read it. I think there are two main reasons besides slowing down and hearing some better natural inflections. Bro reads in small pieces. He usually reads a little part at a time. He slows everything down. Whenever I have to read an assignment, I sit down and read right through it and try to get it done. Bro slows down and reads in small chunks. I think that reading literature in small chunks like he does in class helps us focus more and pay more attention to detail which helps us overall in comprehending what we are reading. The other thing he does is explains the piece as he goes sometimes. Just a little random fact, or explaining some vague reference to another character, writer, or book, or some other ancient Greek or Roman god that the piece mentions can help us a lot. Those tiny details go a long way in helping me understand what I’m hearing or reading. - kli-c Mar 6, 2008
I read the "Essay on Criticism" but I wish I had listened to Bro Tom's reading of it. When I read it myself I absorbed just about nothing, but when Bro Tom went over it in class it suddenly made much more sense--I actually understood some of what Pope was saying about writing and criticism. I think it helps a lot when you hear it a loud; I think hearing it helps you register it better, especially if you're looking at what is being read, like we do in class. You can register it in more ways if you're reading it and hearing it at the same time, and it makes more connections for you. I think that helps a lot when reading something as difficult as Pope's essay. - dru-c Mar 8, 2008
In general, to get the best understanding of something, I like to read along while I am listening to it. I think especially when reading something like "Essay on Criticism" it is easy to be reading along and then sudddenly stop understanding and just looking at the words on the page. And of course this is possible to do when listening to something, but I think if you read it and listen to it, you have the best chance of understanding it. I started reading "Essay on Criticism" and since it is not the easiest thing to understand I found myself just looking at the words on the paper. However, I was able to understand it when I listened as I read.- mha-c Mar 9, 2008
I agree, whenever Br. Tom reads us any piece of literature, something always clicks. I can understand everything that is happening and catch certain words or symbols that I missed before. When talking to my sister about this and mentioning that for some reason I can only understand a piece of literature if Br. Tom reads it, she told me to read it as Br. Tom. But I've found that you cannot duplicate the way Br. Tom reads. As we've mentioned, he takes certain parts and read them slowly, or the different words he emphasizes makes everything clear. I never know what to emphasize.
But then this got me thinking, what if Br. Tom read us something wrong. (I know he probably hasn't or will not because everything seems to make sense) but think about it. What if Br. Tom read a passage completely differently. Would everything be as clear? Would we still gather the same information and understand certain aspects? - szd-c Mar 9, 2008
I completely agree. Hearing something read to me makes me slow down and think about what the poet is trying to say. Sometimes when I don't understand a novel or a play, I try to read it aloud to myself, and although that sometimes helps, I found it much more helpful when Br. Tom read it. He's read it all before and he understands it better than us because of that. When I try to read it outloud, I often misread something simply because it is my first time hearing it. I'm not sure what the author or poet is trying to say so I don't speak it the way it was meant to be. I think that this skill comes with comprehension of the poem. SZd, to answer your questions, I think that if Br. Tom (or anyone, really) read something wrong because that was how he interpreted it, then who is to say it is wrong? Perhaps the poem would be more confusing, but then again, perhaps it would open up a different, but still correct meaning of the poem. I have to wonder whether we would even notice if he read us something wrong. There's a certain trust that he knows what he's doing because he's the teacher and he's read all this before. Maybe we would just accept what he read incorrectly as correct. - Kho-c Mar 10, 2008
I find it kind of funny that there is a discussion on the differences of reading and hearing an essay but I think it is completely a valid discussion and I intend to add my two cents. I remember when we used to take those learning quizzes freshman year when we would basically take a personality profile, but it would tell us what type of teaching we learn best from. It was between writing, reading, seeing, and reading. Unfortunately, I do not remember my learning type, but I do distinctly remember that everyone was different. When we were reading the Essay of Criticism, it did help me to listen to it as i read. For me, I think about a million things at the same time, and therefore if someone is reading it while I am reading it, I can focus in on what is being said. Then, I do not miss anything and I can put some of that thinking power towards understanding the material as I read it. - ptr-c Mar 10, 2008
I also agree. When I am reading something my mind tends to travel and I end up thinking about things totally unrelated to what I am supposed to be reading. By following along to the podcast when reading the essay I was able to focus on the words more and was able to really take them in at the same time without drifting off. I think that if Br. Tom was reading a different passage it would have still been easier to understand and take in rather than just sitting down and trying to focus and figure everything out by myself. I think that we would still gather the same information and understand certain aspects because we have a different kind of focus when listening to someone read to us. Instead of trying to figure out the pronunciation of a word we can focus on its meaning in the essay as a whole. - kfr-c Mar 10, 2008
I too found that Br. Tom made the essay easier by reading it aloud. It isn't so much that I couldn't pay attention when I was reading, but I just had the most difficult time figuring out how things were meant to be said. There are so many different ways one word can be said or interpreted that I had a hard time understanding until Br. Tom read the passage. Further, it is true that some of us learn by reading while others do so by hearing. I've always had trouble learning by listening because I tended to wander off into a different world. However, looking at the essay and having Br. Tom read at the same time I was reading actually helped me read more so than if I were just to listen. There were some parts of the essay that I couldn't even follow until Br. Tom read it and I was able to follow along. - KSm-c Mar 11, 2008
The funny thing is, that I read rather slowly, because I often zone and reflect on certain points after I read them - not intentionally. I go off on tangents, and when I snap out of it I find I had completely forgotten the cause. So, I am not too surprised when I stumble over phrases sometimes and mistake their meaning. This is probably why we are always encouraged if not instructed to re-read certain materials. Having an auditory aid really allows me to focus, I think because I don't have control over what is being read. I don't have time to drift off topic or let my mind wander, because the reader is going to continue and if I don't pay attention I'll miss it. Plus, the way it is read by one who has read it before is always much more easily understood. The person knows what is being said and therefore is able to convey that to the once puzzled listener. - Sha-c Mar 11, 2008 I agree that it was much easier to read along and listen to a reading of Pope's "Essay on Criticism", but I don't think that just hearing it is the key. I think that we understand things much better when we experience them in two ways at the same time. I get much more out of a literary work if I read while listening to the words being read. I feel that it helps to keep me on track and to feel how the words are meant to be read, but listening on its own is not a magic cure. Last year in honors lit, we did an exercise in which for a few days we listened to an audio recording of a work that we were reading. We were not allowed to look at the actual text at all. Then we were asked to write our own version of what we had heard. Everyone's interpretation was completely different. I know that I would have been able to write a much more accurate summary if I had just read the text. I don't think that listening to the poem is what allowed many of us to better understand it; I think it has more to do with experiencing it using both of your senses at the same time. - bga-c Mar 11, 2008 ----
I think that a big reason hearing it makes it easier is because we've already read it once before and when we hear it; we are getting the same information again in a new way. This makes it easier for both the audio and visual learners because it is a combination of both. We are being hit with both methods at the same time. Following along and hearing it makes things much clearer. And if you think about it, hearing is much more natural to humans than writing is. Hearing is innate; it is what we have been familiar with for the longest time. I'm not saying that any of us has any difficulty reading, just that hearing is more natural. - LDo-c Mar 12, 2008
I agree with LDo. If I do not read something for myself and then the only time I hear/read the information is when it is read to me I have no idea what is going on. I cannot focus on my own thoughts while trying to focus on the words coming from someone else. It does help to have read something to myself and then have a second reading from someone else. The way it is read a second time can bring to light different things or the voice infliction can emphasize things of importance. It can cause more debate or thought on my part becuase it will make me think differently. When I am reading to myself I tend to stay on one track and do not try and contradict myself. This is not that great because there could be something I am missing or something I am not reading enough into. When it was being read aloud it gives me a chance to be a better annotator .- JJa-c Mar 12, 2008
It is kind of funny for me. Usually I am a very visual person - when I am learning math or science I have to have it put in front of me and there has to be lots of detailed drawings and diagrams. So when it came to reading all these essays, I thought I would understand it best if I sat in a quiet room by myself. I soon realized that this was totally the wrong approach. Bro's readings really helped me as well. When I tried to look at the words myself, my eyes would wander and my mind would follow. Like Molly, I think, said in class the other day, I wish Bro could record all my texts for college on tape.... - MBe-c Mar 12, 2008
This totally helped Nick. Not that I ever found poetry particularly easy, but it does get a lot easier when you are studying it with a professor who is familiar with its oral as well as academic emphasies. The same goes with reading difficult novels or plays in his class or any other, maybe just to a lesser extent do to the accessability and familiarity we have with pros. It's nice to be alerted of important details and symbolic elements in these pieces of literature. It has almost made me lazy to some extent. I read through the poems he gives us just to get myself used to it, but I often find myself spacing out or going through it quickly because I know that Bro will pick up the slack. Maybe that's help, maybe it isn't, but I think it is important also to sometimes be expected to get through these poems all by ourselves. In college we may have to and if we ever want to enjoy poetry on our own later in life, we are going to have to know how to interpret it without the help of a teacher, or it will just become tedious. But I would still say that I would prefer taking a class on Milton's Paradise lost, than trying to navigate it by myself. Does anyone else think that bro's help might be making us dependent on it? - MKo-c Mar 12, 2008
I absolutely agree with NVa. Honestly, I have a lot of trouble understanding certain things unless I hear them read aloud by someone else. I never seemed to have a problem with Shakespeare or anything, but when it comes to certain types of poetry or certain speeches or essays such as this, I don't think I would ever be able to understand them unless they were read aloud. I think it has something to do with the fact that when I'm reading it myself, I spend so much time focusing on a particular part or sentence that I end up getting bogged down by it and not able to focus on any other part of it. When it's being read to me, I'm able to comprehend what's being told to me, move on, and then comprehend the rest. I do think it also has something to do with the vocal inflections and emphasis on certain words that I might not have noticed or thought of while I was reading it to myself. - MRo-c Mar 12, 2008
There are certain works of literature that are meant to be read aloud and performed such as the various plays, and certain poems that have a more musical quality to them could also be said to be better listened to than actually read. However I dont think that the Essay on Criticism was meant to be read aloud for a couple of reasons. Number one it is an extremely long poem that was written to resemble an essay and essays aren't really meant to be read aloud but rather read reagularly so that the ideas may be considered and bounce silently within the mind. Though tone and inflection may help us understand what the poet is saying I think that the main reason that when Bro Tom read it we understood the poem better was because Bro Tom is an expirenced writer and reader of poets who has read this poem in particular many times. He already knows for the most part where the poet meant the inflection to be and what it actually meant. I can gaurantee you that if any of us read it we wouldn't have gotten nearly as much meaning out of it. - DGr-c
I think part of it may be that things are much easier to understand the second time around. I know that I never really reread things, but when I do there is always a lot that I miss the first time, and notice the next. Also When other people are reading outloud, there seems to be less effort involved on my part, and I'm free to let my mind wander to the possibilities of what the text actually means instead of focusing my attention to reading the words. Also the fact that it is being read by someone (Bro Tom) who alreadys knows a great deal about the poem, and therefore will be able to emphasize the things that need it, and give a better, more accurate reading of it. - jko-c Mar 12, 2008
To echo the thoughts of other posters, I give credit to Br. Tom's expertise as it has significantly helped me as well. Nva's statement about reading quickly holds true for me as well thanks to our wonderful education system. We are taught for the test (the ACT or SAT or virtually any other standardized test involving reading), and the test requires fast readers. Naturally, we, as overachieving students, heed the call and adapt. But, with respect to poetry, as we adapt and transform reading from an enjoyable excercise to a task involving making note of the tone, plot, point of view, similarities with other poems, differences with other poems, we lose the aesthestic aspect of poetry, its artistic element, if you will. Thus, when I read poetry I look for the items that the AP test will demand me to look for, and I look for these items real fast. But poetry was/is not meant to be sped-read (past tense of speed-read) for its critical traits for the purpose of essay writing. Poetry was/is meant by poets to be a form of art. Hearing it read by someone with expertise in literature, such as Br. Tom, allows me to return to poetry's artistic element, an element that the vast majority of our educational system seeks to eliminate. And hearing that artistic element puts me into better contact with the author of the poem and, ironically, the points he was trying to make.- TMc-c Mar 12, 2008
I agree with TMc and almost feel bad whenever I read poetry. I know that most of the time I just speed through it if we are assigned it to get my homework done. This does not really allow me enough time to sit back and try to contemplate what the poet is actually trying to tell us. In addition, I do look for the AP techniques and anaylitical strategies, which definitely contrasts with my absorbtion of the author's message and the theme. I started to read the critism essay, but I just was quite confused and did not really get it at first with my speed reading technique. Thus, I did listen to the entire thing online and totally got a new perspective on the essay. I actually picked up on some of the key points in the poem when I took a step back, slowed things down, and thoroughly tried to listen to the essay. I think that not only I, but most teenages when only be able to full appreciate peom when we slow things down and carefully read. Any other comments on this subject? - kva-c Mar 13, 2008
For me at least I tend to be a more visual learner, so audio is only better for me if it is in conjunction with reading the book at the same time. I've tried audio books before but I always end up drifting off subconsciously and miss information. I think the key with the audio is that it forces our brains to focus on what the book is saying more since speaking the book allowed takes longer than reading. For poetry, though, I think audio is the most important and should be heard without seeing the structure sometimes. This is because poetry is based on rhythm, rhyme, and inflections. It has a certain dare-I-say-it flow that it is impossible to truly grasp without hearing it out loud. In this case, the poetry often needs to be heard multiple times or read afterwards to understand some of the other meanings that you may not understand on the first hearing. The feeling of the poem is conveyed in its sound. I think Br. Tom does a great job of conveying that feeling when he reads poetry to us or any other work and it is helpful in understanding the work better. With hearing a work though you are biased by the person's tone in their reading. To what extent do you think this plays a part in our feeling towards a work? - AHa-c Mar 13, 2008
Well, that's a lot to do with whether or not someone's more of a visual learner or an audio ? learner or something else altogether. I actually really like hearing stories, poems, and literature read out, just because it continues the steady rhythm that should be there, that I don't always let myself follow when reading. However, when I need to learn something in-depth, visual's the way to go, such as for math, science, or just in-depth readings of particular passages. I think hearing things aloud really helps you if either a) you don't get where's it's going b) you're unfamiliar with the vocabulary c) you're intimidated by the size of the passage, or its verbosity. So yeah, I liked hearing it, and it made me realize his main points a little easier, just cause it helps me contrast the different parts of what he's saying. But were I to write an essay about that essay, I'd like the printed copy, thank you very much. - AZU-C Mar 13, 2008
I also liked Br. Tom's readings, and I think that hearing things out loud allows us to organize things in our head much more easily than when we read. Like other people have mentioned, I read fast, but I know that when something is difficult, it is useful to read it out-loud to myself. I've done this with Shakespeare in the past. When I read, I think that I know what to expect--I know how a sentence is supposed to be set up, and though I don't know what the complete sentence is yet, based on my understanding of how a sentence works, I begin to comprehend it before I even finish it. But in Pope's essay, the time period he was working in and the heroic couplet style forced him to invert his sentences and otherwise put the words in different orders than I expect to see in a sentence. However, when listening, I think it is easier to rearrange the words in our head based on emphasis and pronunciation to make a cohesive idea. Plus, we are used to people speaking in less than perfect syntax, so perhaps that helps us as well. I think that something about slowing down and listening allows us to better understand the strange sentence structure. - lsi-c Mar 13, 2008
I read the first section of the poem by myself and listened to the next two parts with Br. Tom. I loved listening. Hearing him speak and listening to someone else read it helped me to understand what Pope was saying because it almost felt like someone was there explaining it to me. When I read, I can hear my voice in my head, but my voice gets boring. When i listen to Br. Tom's voice, it is someone different and someone else's voice helps me to get a new perspective and helps me concentrate because I have to follow along on my copy as he reads. - MFi-c Mar 13, 2008
When I tried reading this essay/poem, I eventually found myself in that state where I was reading the words, but thinking about something else, so I comprehended nothing. When we took the test sophomore year (freshman year?) about what kind of learners we are, I found out that I am an audio learner. But when I listened to the essay, it became almost melodic and I started to fall asleep. Finally, I read it and listened to it at the same time. This helped me a lot. Last year I had Ms. Royce for English, and she told us that the more senses you use while reading something, the more you comprehend it. So listening and following along increase your comprehension of the words, and some people even like to follow along with their finger, because it helps them comprehend. - mmi-c Mar 13, 2008
I have always been one to listen and follow along. This was extremely handy with Pope. When I read it by myself it was such a struggle to figure out what was going on. I can't really listen and follow along when I'm reading. When you have more freedom and aren't so tied up with reading a poem by yourself, you have the oppurtunity to hear things you haven't heard or picked up on before. I know this was the case when Brother Tom read Pope aloud in class. It's like I'm reading the poem for the first time again. It's a fresh look when someone else reads it for you. I find it very helpful.- aja-c Mar 13, 2008
I share your opinion…whenever bro reads a piece of literature it makes so much more sense to me than when I read it. I think there are two main reasons besides slowing down and hearing some better natural inflections. Bro reads in small pieces. He usually reads a little part at a time. He slows everything down. Whenever I have to read an assignment, I sit down and read right through it and try to get it done. Bro slows down and reads in small chunks. I think that reading literature in small chunks like he does in class helps us focus more and pay more attention to detail which helps us overall in comprehending what we are reading. The other thing he does is explains the piece as he goes sometimes. Just a little random fact, or explaining some vague reference to another character, writer, or book, or some other ancient Greek or Roman god that the piece mentions can help us a lot. Those tiny details go a long way in helping me understand what I’m hearing or reading.
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I read the "Essay on Criticism" but I wish I had listened to Bro Tom's reading of it. When I read it myself I absorbed just about nothing, but when Bro Tom went over it in class it suddenly made much more sense--I actually understood some of what Pope was saying about writing and criticism. I think it helps a lot when you hear it a loud; I think hearing it helps you register it better, especially if you're looking at what is being read, like we do in class. You can register it in more ways if you're reading it and hearing it at the same time, and it makes more connections for you. I think that helps a lot when reading something as difficult as Pope's essay. -
In general, to get the best understanding of something, I like to read along while I am listening to it. I think especially when reading something like "Essay on Criticism" it is easy to be reading along and then sudddenly stop understanding and just looking at the words on the page. And of course this is possible to do when listening to something, but I think if you read it and listen to it, you have the best chance of understanding it. I started reading "Essay on Criticism" and since it is not the easiest thing to understand I found myself just looking at the words on the paper. However, I was able to understand it when I listened as I read.-
I agree, whenever Br. Tom reads us any piece of literature, something always clicks. I can understand everything that is happening and catch certain words or symbols that I missed before. When talking to my sister about this and mentioning that for some reason I can only understand a piece of literature if Br. Tom reads it, she told me to read it as Br. Tom. But I've found that you cannot duplicate the way Br. Tom reads. As we've mentioned, he takes certain parts and read them slowly, or the different words he emphasizes makes everything clear. I never know what to emphasize.
But then this got me thinking, what if Br. Tom read us something wrong. (I know he probably hasn't or will not because everything seems to make sense) but think about it. What if Br. Tom read a passage completely differently. Would everything be as clear? Would we still gather the same information and understand certain aspects?
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I completely agree. Hearing something read to me makes me slow down and think about what the poet is trying to say. Sometimes when I don't understand a novel or a play, I try to read it aloud to myself, and although that sometimes helps, I found it much more helpful when Br. Tom read it. He's read it all before and he understands it better than us because of that. When I try to read it outloud, I often misread something simply because it is my first time hearing it. I'm not sure what the author or poet is trying to say so I don't speak it the way it was meant to be. I think that this skill comes with comprehension of the poem. SZd, to answer your questions, I think that if Br. Tom (or anyone, really) read something wrong because that was how he interpreted it, then who is to say it is wrong? Perhaps the poem would be more confusing, but then again, perhaps it would open up a different, but still correct meaning of the poem. I have to wonder whether we would even notice if he read us something wrong. There's a certain trust that he knows what he's doing because he's the teacher and he's read all this before. Maybe we would just accept what he read incorrectly as correct. -
I find it kind of funny that there is a discussion on the differences of reading and hearing an essay but I think it is completely a valid discussion and I intend to add my two cents. I remember when we used to take those learning quizzes freshman year when we would basically take a personality profile, but it would tell us what type of teaching we learn best from. It was between writing, reading, seeing, and reading. Unfortunately, I do not remember my learning type, but I do distinctly remember that everyone was different. When we were reading the Essay of Criticism, it did help me to listen to it as i read. For me, I think about a million things at the same time, and therefore if someone is reading it while I am reading it, I can focus in on what is being said. Then, I do not miss anything and I can put some of that thinking power towards understanding the material as I read it. -
I also agree. When I am reading something my mind tends to travel and I end up thinking about things totally unrelated to what I am supposed to be reading. By following along to the podcast when reading the essay I was able to focus on the words more and was able to really take them in at the same time without drifting off. I think that if Br. Tom was reading a different passage it would have still been easier to understand and take in rather than just sitting down and trying to focus and figure everything out by myself. I think that we would still gather the same information and understand certain aspects because we have a different kind of focus when listening to someone read to us. Instead of trying to figure out the pronunciation of a word we can focus on its meaning in the essay as a whole. -
I too found that Br. Tom made the essay easier by reading it aloud. It isn't so much that I couldn't pay attention when I was reading, but I just had the most difficult time figuring out how things were meant to be said. There are so many different ways one word can be said or interpreted that I had a hard time understanding until Br. Tom read the passage. Further, it is true that some of us learn by reading while others do so by hearing. I've always had trouble learning by listening because I tended to wander off into a different world. However, looking at the essay and having Br. Tom read at the same time I was reading actually helped me read more so than if I were just to listen. There were some parts of the essay that I couldn't even follow until Br. Tom read it and I was able to follow along.
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The funny thing is, that I read rather slowly, because I often zone and reflect on certain points after I read them - not intentionally. I go off on tangents, and when I snap out of it I find I had completely forgotten the cause. So, I am not too surprised when I stumble over phrases sometimes and mistake their meaning. This is probably why we are always encouraged if not instructed to re-read certain materials. Having an auditory aid really allows me to focus, I think because I don't have control over what is being read. I don't have time to drift off topic or let my mind wander, because the reader is going to continue and if I don't pay attention I'll miss it. Plus, the way it is read by one who has read it before is always much more easily understood. The person knows what is being said and therefore is able to convey that to the once puzzled listener. -
I agree that it was much easier to read along and listen to a reading of Pope's "Essay on Criticism", but I don't think that just hearing it is the key. I think that we understand things much better when we experience them in two ways at the same time. I get much more out of a literary work if I read while listening to the words being read. I feel that it helps to keep me on track and to feel how the words are meant to be read, but listening on its own is not a magic cure. Last year in honors lit, we did an exercise in which for a few days we listened to an audio recording of a work that we were reading. We were not allowed to look at the actual text at all. Then we were asked to write our own version of what we had heard. Everyone's interpretation was completely different. I know that I would have been able to write a much more accurate summary if I had just read the text. I don't think that listening to the poem is what allowed many of us to better understand it; I think it has more to do with experiencing it using both of your senses at the same time. -
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I think that a big reason hearing it makes it easier is because we've already read it once before and when we hear it; we are getting the same information again in a new way. This makes it easier for both the audio and visual learners because it is a combination of both. We are being hit with both methods at the same time. Following along and hearing it makes things much clearer. And if you think about it, hearing is much more natural to humans than writing is. Hearing is innate; it is what we have been familiar with for the longest time. I'm not saying that any of us has any difficulty reading, just that hearing is more natural.
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I agree with LDo. If I do not read something for myself and then the only time I hear/read the information is when it is read to me I have no idea what is going on. I cannot focus on my own thoughts while trying to focus on the words coming from someone else. It does help to have read something to myself and then have a second reading from someone else. The way it is read a second time can bring to light different things or the voice infliction can emphasize things of importance. It can cause more debate or thought on my part becuase it will make me think differently. When I am reading to myself I tend to stay on one track and do not try and contradict myself. This is not that great because there could be something I am missing or something I am not reading enough into. When it was being read aloud it gives me a chance to be a better annotator .-
It is kind of funny for me. Usually I am a very visual person - when I am learning math or science I have to have it put in front of me and there has to be lots of detailed drawings and diagrams. So when it came to reading all these essays, I thought I would understand it best if I sat in a quiet room by myself. I soon realized that this was totally the wrong approach. Bro's readings really helped me as well. When I tried to look at the words myself, my eyes would wander and my mind would follow. Like Molly, I think, said in class the other day, I wish Bro could record all my texts for college on tape....
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This totally helped Nick. Not that I ever found poetry particularly easy, but it does get a lot easier when you are studying it with a professor who is familiar with its oral as well as academic emphasies. The same goes with reading difficult novels or plays in his class or any other, maybe just to a lesser extent do to the accessability and familiarity we have with pros. It's nice to be alerted of important details and symbolic elements in these pieces of literature. It has almost made me lazy to some extent. I read through the poems he gives us just to get myself used to it, but I often find myself spacing out or going through it quickly because I know that Bro will pick up the slack. Maybe that's help, maybe it isn't, but I think it is important also to sometimes be expected to get through these poems all by ourselves. In college we may have to and if we ever want to enjoy poetry on our own later in life, we are going to have to know how to interpret it without the help of a teacher, or it will just become tedious. But I would still say that I would prefer taking a class on Milton's Paradise lost, than trying to navigate it by myself. Does anyone else think that bro's help might be making us dependent on it? -
I absolutely agree with NVa. Honestly, I have a lot of trouble understanding certain things unless I hear them read aloud by someone else. I never seemed to have a problem with Shakespeare or anything, but when it comes to certain types of poetry or certain speeches or essays such as this, I don't think I would ever be able to understand them unless they were read aloud. I think it has something to do with the fact that when I'm reading it myself, I spend so much time focusing on a particular part or sentence that I end up getting bogged down by it and not able to focus on any other part of it. When it's being read to me, I'm able to comprehend what's being told to me, move on, and then comprehend the rest. I do think it also has something to do with the vocal inflections and emphasis on certain words that I might not have noticed or thought of while I was reading it to myself.
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There are certain works of literature that are meant to be read aloud and performed such as the various plays, and certain poems that have a more musical quality to them could also be said to be better listened to than actually read. However I dont think that the Essay on Criticism was meant to be read aloud for a couple of reasons. Number one it is an extremely long poem that was written to resemble an essay and essays aren't really meant to be read aloud but rather read reagularly so that the ideas may be considered and bounce silently within the mind. Though tone and inflection may help us understand what the poet is saying I think that the main reason that when Bro Tom read it we understood the poem better was because Bro Tom is an expirenced writer and reader of poets who has read this poem in particular many times. He already knows for the most part where the poet meant the inflection to be and what it actually meant. I can gaurantee you that if any of us read it we wouldn't have gotten nearly as much meaning out of it.
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I think part of it may be that things are much easier to understand the second time around. I know that I never really reread things, but when I do there is always a lot that I miss the first time, and notice the next. Also When other people are reading outloud, there seems to be less effort involved on my part, and I'm free to let my mind wander to the possibilities of what the text actually means instead of focusing my attention to reading the words. Also the fact that it is being read by someone (Bro Tom) who alreadys knows a great deal about the poem, and therefore will be able to emphasize the things that need it, and give a better, more accurate reading of it.
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To echo the thoughts of other posters, I give credit to Br. Tom's expertise as it has significantly helped me as well. Nva's statement about reading quickly holds true for me as well thanks to our wonderful education system. We are taught for the test (the ACT or SAT or virtually any other standardized test involving reading), and the test requires fast readers. Naturally, we, as overachieving students, heed the call and adapt. But, with respect to poetry, as we adapt and transform reading from an enjoyable excercise to a task involving making note of the tone, plot, point of view, similarities with other poems, differences with other poems, we lose the aesthestic aspect of poetry, its artistic element, if you will. Thus, when I read poetry I look for the items that the AP test will demand me to look for, and I look for these items real fast. But poetry was/is not meant to be sped-read (past tense of speed-read) for its critical traits for the purpose of essay writing. Poetry was/is meant by poets to be a form of art. Hearing it read by someone with expertise in literature, such as Br. Tom, allows me to return to poetry's artistic element, an element that the vast majority of our educational system seeks to eliminate. And hearing that artistic element puts me into better contact with the author of the poem and, ironically, the points he was trying to make.-
I agree with TMc and almost feel bad whenever I read poetry. I know that most of the time I just speed through it if we are assigned it to get my homework done. This does not really allow me enough time to sit back and try to contemplate what the poet is actually trying to tell us. In addition, I do look for the AP techniques and anaylitical strategies, which definitely contrasts with my absorbtion of the author's message and the theme. I started to read the critism essay, but I just was quite confused and did not really get it at first with my speed reading technique. Thus, I did listen to the entire thing online and totally got a new perspective on the essay. I actually picked up on some of the key points in the poem when I took a step back, slowed things down, and thoroughly tried to listen to the essay. I think that not only I, but most teenages when only be able to full appreciate peom when we slow things down and carefully read. Any other comments on this subject?
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For me at least I tend to be a more visual learner, so audio is only better for me if it is in conjunction with reading the book at the same time. I've tried audio books before but I always end up drifting off subconsciously and miss information. I think the key with the audio is that it forces our brains to focus on what the book is saying more since speaking the book allowed takes longer than reading. For poetry, though, I think audio is the most important and should be heard without seeing the structure sometimes. This is because poetry is based on rhythm, rhyme, and inflections. It has a certain dare-I-say-it flow that it is impossible to truly grasp without hearing it out loud. In this case, the poetry often needs to be heard multiple times or read afterwards to understand some of the other meanings that you may not understand on the first hearing. The feeling of the poem is conveyed in its sound. I think Br. Tom does a great job of conveying that feeling when he reads poetry to us or any other work and it is helpful in understanding the work better. With hearing a work though you are biased by the person's tone in their reading. To what extent do you think this plays a part in our feeling towards a work? -
Well, that's a lot to do with whether or not someone's more of a visual learner or an audio ? learner or something else altogether. I actually really like hearing stories, poems, and literature read out, just because it continues the steady rhythm that should be there, that I don't always let myself follow when reading. However, when I need to learn something in-depth, visual's the way to go, such as for math, science, or just in-depth readings of particular passages. I think hearing things aloud really helps you if either a) you don't get where's it's going b) you're unfamiliar with the vocabulary c) you're intimidated by the size of the passage, or its verbosity. So yeah, I liked hearing it, and it made me realize his main points a little easier, just cause it helps me contrast the different parts of what he's saying. But were I to write an essay about that essay, I'd like the printed copy, thank you very much. -
I also liked Br. Tom's readings, and I think that hearing things out loud allows us to organize things in our head much more easily than when we read. Like other people have mentioned, I read fast, but I know that when something is difficult, it is useful to read it out-loud to myself. I've done this with Shakespeare in the past. When I read, I think that I know what to expect--I know how a sentence is supposed to be set up, and though I don't know what the complete sentence is yet, based on my understanding of how a sentence works, I begin to comprehend it before I even finish it. But in Pope's essay, the time period he was working in and the heroic couplet style forced him to invert his sentences and otherwise put the words in different orders than I expect to see in a sentence. However, when listening, I think it is easier to rearrange the words in our head based on emphasis and pronunciation to make a cohesive idea. Plus, we are used to people speaking in less than perfect syntax, so perhaps that helps us as well. I think that something about slowing down and listening allows us to better understand the strange sentence structure. -
I read the first section of the poem by myself and listened to the next two parts with Br. Tom. I loved listening. Hearing him speak and listening to someone else read it helped me to understand what Pope was saying because it almost felt like someone was there explaining it to me. When I read, I can hear my voice in my head, but my voice gets boring. When i listen to Br. Tom's voice, it is someone different and someone else's voice helps me to get a new perspective and helps me concentrate because I have to follow along on my copy as he reads.
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When I tried reading this essay/poem, I eventually found myself in that state where I was reading the words, but thinking about something else, so I comprehended nothing. When we took the test sophomore year (freshman year?) about what kind of learners we are, I found out that I am an audio learner. But when I listened to the essay, it became almost melodic and I started to fall asleep. Finally, I read it and listened to it at the same time. This helped me a lot. Last year I had Ms. Royce for English, and she told us that the more senses you use while reading something, the more you comprehend it. So listening and following along increase your comprehension of the words, and some people even like to follow along with their finger, because it helps them comprehend. -
I have always been one to listen and follow along. This was extremely handy with Pope. When I read it by myself it was such a struggle to figure out what was going on. I can't really listen and follow along when I'm reading. When you have more freedom and aren't so tied up with reading a poem by yourself, you have the oppurtunity to hear things you haven't heard or picked up on before. I know this was the case when Brother Tom read Pope aloud in class. It's like I'm reading the poem for the first time again. It's a fresh look when someone else reads it for you. I find it very helpful.-